


Recovery Two

by locrianrose



Series: Recovery [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Zombies, implied past southicut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-20 00:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3629400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locrianrose/pseuds/locrianrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>North and South try to exist. It doesn't go well. Theta tries to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Something isn’t right. North knows that the moment that he wakes up, listening to the stillness of the room. Theta’s still curled up, so he doesn’t move. The kid sleeps less than he should, especially now, and North doesn’t want to wake him, but he might have to. It’s hard to get him to sleep, and North knows that half the time he does it’s all nightmares about his siblings. 

“…South.” He says her name quietly, listening intently for any sounds. She might be in the other room, but she wouldn’t leave—he’s sure of that. She knows that he needs her and that she needs him—who would she have without him? Carefully standing, he moves towards the door to the room, slipping it open as quietly as he can. Once he’s out, he raises his voice, calling to her again. “South, you shouldn’t be sleeping. You know that it’s important to—” He breaks off the moment that he hears the noises, and he moves fast, faster than a casual observer, had there been any alive to watch, would have thought him able to. 

“Theta. C’mon. Time to go.” He grabs the boy, tucking him up in his arms and ignoring his small mumbles of complaint at being woken, then pushing towards the door and cursing as he sees South’s missing pack, but he isn’t going to say anything to Theta as disappointment in her and fear for himself and Theta fill him. 

“North!” Theta’s aware that something is wrong now, that there are noises in the dark again.

“Shh, Theta. I’ve got you.”

“Where’s South?”

“Don’t know, kiddo.” North can hear the telltale clicking of the undead now, and he sees the panic on Theta’s face as he moves towards the back of the house, rounding a corner to see the bruised and bloodied face of one of the creatures moving quickly towards him.

Theta is screaming, but North tugs the blanket over him and launches himself forward, determined to force his way through, and for not the first time he’s grateful that he insisted that he and South stay in top condition as he slams past the creature, knowing that more will be coming now. Theta’s simply whimpering now, but North knows that there’s no time to wait and comfort him. That will come later, if there is a later.

This is South’s fault, in part, and for a moment he’s disgusted by her behavior, but he knows that he will help her and that he’ll find her again if he and Theta make it out and she’s still alive, because they have to stick together through all of this.

The back door is close now, but he can hear the other sounds of the creatures who've now been alerted to their fellow’s distress. He’s nearly there when he stumbles and Theta flies out of his hands, both of them tumbling, but North doesn't hesitate to shove Theta to his feet, frantically shoving him into another room with the backpack.

“Theta, don’t come out for anyone but me or—” He shoves the door shut, continuing to shout instructions. “LOCK IT, AND KEEP IT SHUT. MOVE WHAT YOU CAN TO BLOCK IT, AND—” Cold hands are dragging him down, and pulling him away from the door, and Theta is sobbing from behind the door, and damn it South, if you’d been here we could have done this, and— A hand covers his mouth and they’re dragging him down, pulling him apart and he’s the one screaming now.

\---

Morning comes, and Theta is huddled on the floor in the corner of the room, sobbing softly as he stares numbly at the door that he struggled and somehow succeeded to block the night before. It’s quiet now, and he edges towards it, his young voice muttering quietly. “North--if--if you’re gone--South, where are you? North said that you’d be here and you’re not!”

They can’t be dead. He trusted them, and they can’t be dead now, and not North, anyone but North. As he stares at the door he finds himself muttering under his breath, saying things that he heard from South one day when she was angry at North and he couldn’t get her to calm down. 

“North--I don’t know what to do. I can’t--If you’re dead--” He breaks off again, “I can’t hurt you. You wouldn’t hurt me.” 

“Please. I promise if you come back, I won’t wake you up at night--and South, I promise that I won’t bug you anymore! I’m sorry, but just come back!” 

He doesn’t make any movements. All he can do is shiver--anything else is out of mind, and he just wants to see someone there and he is scared and alone, and he can’t make himself believe that North’s gone. South will be back soon, and then she and North will argue and it will all be better. He has to think that.


	2. what she thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where South was when North needed her, and what she thought.

__

“North. Come on. We need to get outa here.” South glares at him, but North is still moving slowly, dragging that stupid kid along with him, and she want’s nothing more than to leave them both behind, but the moment that she thinks of leaving North a spike of panic rises up in her that she can’t stand, and she knows that she needs her twin, and sometimes that means needing Theta too, even if he does keep them up at night, and she swears that someday his whining is going to get them found.

North would die for the kid, and she doesn’t get that. She doesn’t see that his care for Theta mirrors his care for her to some degree, and that he’d die for the both of them. She just sees Theta as baggage, and another mouth to feed. 

Back when they all split up, she was sure that North would ditch the kid eventually. After all, that’s what she would have done. She really doesn’t get why he didn’t just leave her as well the moment she faced off with Tex, and so she does her best to just be grateful and not swear at Theta.

It still makes her angry. Later, when she’s keeping watch , looking at North and Theta curled under the blankets that they’d found in the abandoned house, and she doesn’t get why North is trusting her to watch them. He knows how she feels, and seems to think that she’s never going to give up on them or skip out, and she’s almost tempted too. Maybe if Connie--no, CT, was still alive, she’d try that, but she’s already  gone and dead and she doesn’t know who she’d even go to now, and it’s infuriating. 

So later that night, when she hears the grumbling outside the doors and she sees the creatures coming she doesn’t wake North up, she doesn’t take Theta’s hand and help him along. 

She slips out the back door, and she leaves them to run down the block, and she tries to block out the screams that she hears behind her, and her own words come back to haunt her.

“ _Who’s the monster now, bitch?”_

And so she hides. Finds an abandoned building to huddle in till morning light comes, and she creeps back to see what’s left. Who's left, and she'd deny to anyone the fact that she hopes that North is dead after all of this. 

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a Tumblr request by thepsychogent. I was thinking about this, and then my mind went to the best place possible. Zombie apocalypse Au. Heck yes. Time to rip out some hearts. 
> 
> Also, I'd love to discuss North's character with anyone out there! I'm still debating what I think of him!


End file.
